The Ranger and Tonto are surprised to find two strangers occupying the ranch owned by their friend Joe Crawford. Joe's ranch hand and cook Tom Peters tells them that Joe is missing and a slick gambler called Pinto Brown has Joe's signature on a bill of sale and claims that Joe sold him the ranch. Joe's daughter Molly returns from school in the East. Pinto Brown has the sheriff serve eviction papers. The Ranger advises Molly and Tom to remain on the ranch until the eviction time period is up. Pinto tries to intimidate Molly, but she says that she will let her friend answer for her. Now The Ranger has to find Joe and figure out how that bill of sale was forged. That is a tall order, even for The Lone Ranger.
25-year old Martha Hyer plays Molly. In her autobiography, Martha said that it was sometimes painful to watch her early performances on cable TV, due to her inexperienced over-acting. But she demonstrates a fine screen presence here and seems comfortable in the role. And at the end of the episode she gets to ask the famous question, "who is that masked man?" Nine years later, Martha would be nominated for an academy award as best supporting actress for her performance in "Some Came Running." She was really great in that role.
This is an excellent episode with a good balance between indoor and outdoor scenes that give it the feel of a B-western movie more than a TV episode.
25-year old Martha Hyer plays Molly. In her autobiography, Martha said that it was sometimes painful to watch her early performances on cable TV, due to her inexperienced over-acting. But she demonstrates a fine screen presence here and seems comfortable in the role. And at the end of the episode she gets to ask the famous question, "who is that masked man?" Nine years later, Martha would be nominated for an academy award as best supporting actress for her performance in "Some Came Running." She was really great in that role.
This is an excellent episode with a good balance between indoor and outdoor scenes that give it the feel of a B-western movie more than a TV episode.
